The lessons in this handbook may be incorporated into individual courses in social studies, humanities, language arts, and science, or used as a basis for multidisciplinary or team teaching. The book is aimed at the middle grade level. With only minor changes, it can easily be adapted for grade 5 U.S. history or even for the 11th grade course. An introduction describes objectives and rationale of the material as well as the San Francisco scope and sequence design on which the handbook is based. A total of 23 lessons and 4 sets of additional activities are contained in the following 7 units: Conflict and Change; Settlers and Native Americans; History, Change, and Your Community; The Drama of Government; The Black Struggle: To Emancipation; The Industrial Revolution; and the Age of Modern Technology. Focusing on the concepts of change, communication, conflict and interconnectedness, the lessons cover topics such as family conflict in the American Revolution, the Constitution, vigilance committees, riots, conflict in slave stories, girls on an assembly line, multinational corporations, and family histories. Each lesson follows a similar format: a teacher's section outlines the purpose, class time required, procedure and, where applicable, materials, evaluation, and alternative suggestions; and a student section provides a reading selection, study and discussion questions, and several group activities. (LP)